Hello to all you gentle readers. Silver Blue, Jonathan Everyday, The Wannabe Gourmet…all in one wrapper, John Barker. After a far-too-long sabbatical, I have returned…hoping to share lower fat, taste enhanced recipes with you.

Happy Halloween!

It’s a day where kids get trucked into neighbourhoods where they don’t belong, to obtain sugared treats that mom and pop are going to toss in the trash and give a “safe” bag of candy to.

Do I sound curmudgeonly? Damn right I do. When I was younger, we used to go around our neighbourhood, but we NEVER got taken to other neighbourhoods to beg for candy. Of course, unwrapped treats were off limits, as were candied apples, caramel apples, and popcorn balls.

These days? Kids (and I use that phrase LOOSELY) of all ages come and bang on your door — even if you don’t have your porch light on. Just the thing you want — kids of 17 or 18, looking over your shoulder to case your house and come back at a later time to steal your canned goods and your stereo.

No, really, I’m not paranoid. But in this day and age — there are FOUR children under the age of 12 that live in this neighbourhood. If you count five streets in each direction, you may have a total of 20 kids. I’ve stood, in the dark, and counted at least 60 kids going up and down the streets, as mom & pop, in a minivan, watch as they go from house to house.

With the economy being in a downturn, even buying treats from the Dollar store to hand out was more than I was willing to front. Of course, in the last 11 years, I’ve not given candy out once — simply because I work with a number of parents and the did all confirm what I mentioned above — they take the little plastic pumpkins or treat bags, and dispose of them once the kids are home, giving them a bag filled with treats that they bought themselves, just to make sure that no one has slipped poison, drugs, razor blades, or needles into the candies. It’s a shame that our culture has come to this, isn’t it?

Moving past that, however, have a Happy Halloween. Go to a party, throw a party, BE the party. Turn the lights all on (after trick or treating hours are over, obviously) and dance like there’s no tomorrow. Drink wine from the bottle. Call up an old friend and tell them how much you miss them.

Most importantly, however, celebrate life. It’s another day that you’ve woken up alive, and if it’s worth living, it’s worth living WELL.

Beef Daube Provençal is basically a fancy way of saying a rustic beef stew served over noodles. The above shot is shown served with the Gorgonzola Asparagus Slice (recipe here) – please see note at the …

Hearty enough to be a main course in itself, use this recipe as a springboard to your own favourite creation!
1 lb of tri-colour rotini pasta, cooked to al dente.
1 lb artichoke hearts in brine
4 tbsp olive …

This recipe has been “lightened up” slightly and is a wonderful soup that, while meat-free, is able to satisfy the carnivores in your life!
Cranberry Wild Rice Soup (Lighter Version)
3 tbsp unsalted butter
1 large carrot, …